The present invention relates to a method for treating laundry in a laundry treatment device comprising a rotationally mounted drum and a water supply, and to a laundry treatment device that is particularly suitable for carrying out said method.
It is known to impregnate a laundry item in a laundry treatment device, for example, with aromatic substances. Commercial treatment methods generally operate on a batch system or foulard process. In the foulard process, lengths of cloth are brought into contact, in a large quantity of treatment solution, with the respective treatment composition being used. The level of extraction, defined as the percentage proportion of active agent that becomes deposited on the laundry item, depends strongly on the affinity of the active agent for the fibers, but is generally low.
For laundry treatment devices, particularly for laundry driers, methods and devices have been developed in order to treat laundry with aromatic substances or the like.
DE 601 19 356 T2 discloses a device for treating fabrics in a tumble drier. Cyclodextrins are mentioned as agents for odor neutralization and as perfume enhancers. These and numerous other substances are used, according to the teaching of DE 601 19 356 T2 for fabric conditioning and, for this purpose, are enclosed within a membrane which prevents the escape of liquids, but not the escape of gases. On operation of a drier, due to the action of heat, liquid evaporates and can escape out of the membrane sleeve and thus become distributed in the drier and in the laundry situated therein. Disadvantages of this type of laundry treatment are that no large volumes of treatment substances reach the laundry and not all treatment substances are suitable for evaporation. For example, microcapsules and cyclodextrins are intended to be distributed as a liquid.
DE 100 36 850 A1 discloses a device for dispensing a liquid product in the interior of a dishwashing or washing machine, particularly a mechanical spraying device with a reservoir and a nozzle, which is suitable for spraying liquids. With this device, no pressurized gas atomizer is used, but rather the reservoir is mechanically compressed and the liquid is driven through the nozzle and atomized. An atomizer of this type generates an aerosol that forms very large drops, which can lead to fleck formation on laundry items.
EP 1 431 443 A1 discloses a laundry drier equipped with an ultrasonic atomizer with which substances, for example aromatic substances, are to be introduced into the drum. An ultrasonic atomizer, although able to generate very fine aerosols is, however, unsuitable for distributing microdisperse fluids such as a microcapsule suspension in a space or for dispensing relatively large quantities of fluid in the shortest possible time.
EP 0 676 497 A2 discloses a method for spraying perfume oil onto laundry by means of a pressurized spray nozzle, the aromatic substance being sprayed onto laundry which is already dry, while the drum continuously rotates, in order to distribute the aromatic substance evenly. Also disclosed is a spraying device which is mounted in the feed opening cover of the drier. This method has the disadvantage that the laundry items tumbling about during movement of the drum are unevenly sprayed with the aromatic substance, which can lead to fleck formation.
WO 03/023122 A1 also discloses methods for treating textiles with treatment substances by spraying in a drum while said drum rotates at a speed below the centrifugal adhesion rotary speed.
DE 10 2006 003 416 A1 discloses a laundry treatment machine with a device for deodorizing clothes. For this purpose, a device with a spray nozzle is provided in the door seal of the laundry drum, said nozzle being able to dispense an active agent (e.g. cyclodextrins) as an aerosol into the interior of the drum. The drum is to move during the spraying such that tumbling of the laundry items present in the drum during the spraying is ensured.
EP 1 600 545 discloses a washing machine with a drum rotatably mounted in a container and dosing means that are operable in order to carry out a deodorizing procedure with laundry placed in the drum, independently of a washing procedure. The deodorizing agent preferably comprises a steam generator which is fluidically connected to water-producing means in order to generate steam therefrom. In particular, a silver solution is also used.
EP 1 605 091 A1 discloses a washing machine comprising a container and a drum rotatably mounted in the container, having a large number of holes, for accommodating laundry, and a pipe with an inlet and an outlet which communicate with an interior of the container, and means in order to draw air from the container into the pipe and to circulate said air back into the container. A spray head for a deodorizing agent is arranged in the pipe for spraying deodorizing agent into the air passing through the pipe.
For textile treatment (treating laundry items), therefore, essentially immersion methods and spraying methods are known. With immersion methods, textile treatments are used in various versions in a washing machine, for example, for fabric softening, impregnating, starching and for the application of ironing aids. With these methods, the relatively low extraction level is disadvantageous, since a high proportion of the treatment composition deployed passes unused into the waste water, which is not only uneconomical, but also causes environmental pollution. A disadvantage of the spraying method is that, given a large load, a very uneven distribution of the treatment composition on a laundry item in the drum results. Thus, an intended quantity and distribution of treatment composition (“treatment quality”) is only achieved given a very low filling level of the drum.